Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Finale Answers the 'Fallen Agent' Mystery, Raises New Questions for Season 4

An agent indeed fell during the Season 3 finale of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But that was far from the only interesting development coming out of the two-hour season ender.

To be sure, the show took great pleasure in keeping us guessing who was destined to perish in the “vision” of the future glimpsed by Daisy. Mack of course entered the finale in possession of the tell-tale cross necklace, and almost — yet didn’t — return it to Elena. Elena, however, would later bravely take a bullet for her “handsome” colleague, then toughed out an on-the-fly cauterization-by-blow torch of her wound. Fitz at one point found himself trapped in the sealed-off hanger with a growing horde of Primitives, while Simmons came thisclose to one of the the ugly Inhumans (before realizing they “saw” via infrared and thus were blind to her in the furnace room). And Daisy put herself in harm’s way by escaping her module to confront Hive, then beg to be taken back into his fold — only he was unable to do so, because of how Lash “cured” her.

And while guilt-ridden Daisy was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and pilot Hive and the Zephyr into outer space, where she would detonate the warhead (and herself) safely, a wounded Lincoln sneaked into the cockpit and shoved his love out of the jet, before taking Hive on a one-way ride to outer space, where the mighty Inhuman finally became acquainted with that thing called death. (To the 24 percent of you that guessed Lincoln, collect your winnings now.)Leading out of that double demise and the neutralization of the pathogen threat, we jumped forward six months, where distraught Daisy apparently has gone rogue (and a smidge Goth), shaking the earth with random quakes. Yet she also makes time to do right by the family of the man who gave her those life-changing “visions” of the future — and maybe even play matchmaker for a certain gentleman veterinarian she knows! It is after that tender moment with Charlie’s widow and daughter that S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to grab Daisy, but she has fine-tuned her powers now to allow for extreme vertical leaps, if not flying per se. Foiled, Coulson tells Mack that he needs to loop in “the director” — meaning, he apparently isn’t calling the shots anymore. But why? And who is in charge?

On top of that, the “bonus” scene shows Dr. Radcliffe emerging triumphant from his final day of bring grilled at congressional hearings, where he is sad to not be celebrating with Fitz and Simmons, whom he had come to highly regard. (Did those two run off to the Seychelles for some breathless snorkeling?) But worry not, Racliffe has plenty to keep him busy, including what appears to be a big step in LMD (Life Model Decoy) innovation….NOTABLE QUOTABLES:* Elena (she of the “super speed”) teasing Mack about his “turtle speed.”* “This won’t kill me.” “No, but it will suck.”* Coulson killing with sarcasm, commenting on Hive fka Ward’s “winning personality” and sense of humor.* And, last but far from least, Hologram Coulson busting out his Princess Leia impression: “Obi Wan….”